worldbuilding Fantasy World planning

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

5 minutes ago, kenod said:

Edit:
Spells that alter someone's brain chemistry might be heavily restricted though, since you could do some really dark things that way.

That's a good point. It would also be a great way to accidentally drive yourself mad, even if it isn't malicious. 

[Steel Inquisitive he/him]

Okay........ Not sure what's happening up there^ 

What else do we need to talk about?

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

12 minutes ago, Steel Inquisitive said:

What else do we need to talk about?

World cosmology, how/where investiture crystals form, leyline mapping(?) and any potential suggestions on large-scale plot arcs. Anyone who wants to help me and @xinoehp512 plot out the large arc of this should feel welcome. I have some ideas already but I want  us to write something that people will actually like  

[kenod]

11 minutes ago, Steel Inquisitive said:

Okay........ Not sure what's happening up there^ 

What else do we need to talk about?

A conversation about the two types of Innate mages and what happens to those who have Innate magic that normally the other gender has, which then briefly went into the attitude Innate Ritualists might have of non-Innate Ritualists at the academy, which then went into weird hi-jinks that might happen there, which turned into the adventures of Harry Pothead, at which point we figured out the rather dark and messed up implications of mages who are basically college students having access to mind-altering magic.

As for things to talk about, the Innate magic types might need some talk, but that's mostly just the opinions from people who aren't here at the moment. Other than that, maybe we could discuss laws regarding magic, how mages police themselves, and what these laws include?

As for starting points:

• Which forms of magic are illegal?
• What is the attitude of the mages academy/council towards this? Are they competent in dealing with criminal mages, with specialized police mages, who might also help out normal law enforcement? Are they incompetent, with students generally cleaning up the mess? Or are they corrupt, only going after a few mages who happen to be rivals, and let most dangerous people just walk by, possibly just having them bribe them?
• What are the official and actual punishments for breaking various laws?
• How much does the public know about this?

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

18 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

You know, I always considered the ASL to be primarily Ritual-based, because of the Natural/Ritual dichotomy. That doesn't fit in well with your idea, though...

I just realized I never answered this. I'm more than happy to edit my interpretation of this. Could you give me an idea of your thoughts on how they would use Ritual magic?

[MacThorstenson he/him]

On the topic of gender reassignment spells, I’m not sure if those would be a thing in world as they would require an extremely advanced biological knowledge. For true gender realignment surgery you would need to change the DNA itself. 

Brain chemistry altering rituals would also require an extremely advanced knowledge of anatomy. So while both of these would technically be possible I don’t know if people would be able to actually do them. 

Magic should generally be illegal if it is affecting other people without their permission. 

In terms of how careful the academy is, it would depend on what part of the academy you are a part of and how you are there. Is the DA paying you to learn to be a mage? Are you a GB assassin on a mission? The academy itself shouldn’t have any legal or political power I don’t think. 

I also don’t think that there would be a mage council as a separate political entity. The mages would most likely be dependent on the government and the armies for maintaining control of the crystals. In addition, the combat ability of a ritual using mage is about equal to that of a swordsman, and they would need to spend a lot of money in order to have enough crystals on hand to fight with.

In addition the only mages that know enough to be threatening are the ones who know how to change their age. Those are the people who were around 60 years old before they started taking the advanced theory course. Most people don’t have the recourses or desire to spend most of their life learning when they could learn some useful tricks for their profession and then leave. So the vast majority of the students would be aged between 30 and 60, with maybe 7% of the entire university older than 60 mentally.

As to the actual punishments, it would depend on the crime obviously, but most would result in death or brain death for the experienced ritual users. These people often can cast spell mentally with only the circles, and considering that one could even use a piece of string to make a circle it could be extremely dangerous to keep them alive. 

For the public, I think it would be similar to a scientist in our world. 

Like, I know a biochemist, I know vaguely what they do, I know where they work, but I don’t know anything about what they use to do their job, what it’s like to be a biochemist, or anything similar. 

[kenod]

1 minute ago, MacThorstenson said:

On the topic of gender reassignment spells, I’m not sure if those would be a thing in world as they would require an extremely advanced biological knowledge. For true gender realignment surgery you would need to change the DNA itself. 

This would depend on the mechanics of Fleshcrafting. If it changes DNA automatically, that would explain a lot. Otherwise, I agree that they probably wouldn't be able to do that. Still, since DNA wouldn't have much of an impact anyway after getting out of puberty it wouldn't matter that much anyway, except possibly for reproduction.

3 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Brain chemistry altering rituals would also require an extremely advanced knowledge of anatomy. So while both of these would technically be possible I don’t know if people would be able to actually do them. 

You're right, messing with brain chemistry shouldn't be possible, even in real life our knowledge about that is limited. Still, is magic capable of altering a person's Cognitive aspect? Because that would create a viable replacement for mind manipulation.

6 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

I also don’t think that there would be a mage council as a separate political entity. The mages would most likely be dependent on the government and the armies for maintaining control of the crystals. In addition, the combat ability of a ritual using mage is about equal to that of a swordsman, and they would need to spend a lot of money in order to have enough crystals on hand to fight with.

In that case I'll need to change Kuria's description in the planning doc a bit, since I initially gave them more power, at least when it comes to dealing with their own affairs. As for combat ability, I see mages more as an artillery type. If a swordsman gets close to mage, most of the less experienced once will probably lose. However, give them time to prepare, and a good supply of crystals, and they can do a lot of damage, basically like artillery in current day armies (they'd probably be used like that as well during wars).

[MacThorstenson he/him]

1 hour ago, kenod said:

You're right, messing with brain chemistry shouldn't be possible, even in real life our knowledge about that is limited. Still, is magic capable of altering a person's Cognitive aspect? Because that would create a viable replacement for mind manipulation.

I would hazard a guess at no, mainly because the core part of natural magic is that it is belief based, and belief and perception is what the entire cognitive aspect is. But I don't know. I would assume that extremely complex ritual spells could create illusions. 

Actually that could be another branch of ritual magic, illusion crafting. It would directly affect photons and not the atoms and molecules.

1 hour ago, kenod said:

In that case I'll need to change Kuria's description in the planning doc a bit, since I initially gave them more power, at least when it comes to dealing with their own affairs. As for combat ability, I see mages more as an artillery type. If a swordsman gets close to mage, most of the less experienced once will probably lose. However, give them time to prepare, and a good supply of crystals, and they can do a lot of damage, basically like artillery in current day armies (they'd probably be used like that as well during wars).

Definitely. I can think of a number of things that one could do on a large scale given enough crystals.

[kenod]

Just now, MacThorstenson said:

I would hazard a guess at no, mainly because the core part of natural magic is that it is belief based, and belief and perception is what the entire cognitive aspect is. But I don't know. I would assume that extremely complex ritual spells could create illusions. 

Actually that could be another branch of ritual magic, illusion crafting. It would directly affect photons and not the atoms and molecules.

Definitely. I can think of a number of things that one could do on a large scale given enough crystals.

Alright. Do you have any suggestions for how the mages could figure into local politics?

Unrelated note, can we compile a list of characters people have submitted?

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

1 minute ago, kenod said:

Unrelated note, can we compile a list of characters people have submitted?

I can do this later this evening, or someone can do it now if you want to. If it’s not in the google doc by tonight, I’ll put it there, then submit it all back in here.

[kenod]

So I decided to go through the thread and compile a basic list myself:

@MacThorstenson: Mak

Spoiler

Name: Mak

Magic: EVERYTHING! No seriously.

He is an innate magic user, that was able to see the symbols behind physical alchemy, transmutation. He quickly learned how to bake delicious baked goods via his powers and create explosions and used that as a specialization throughout his time in the academy. He did graduate however after the 70 year program which taught him the basics in a variety of areas, and the theory.

Through study he tried and succeeded at figuring out a lot about heat and how that needs to be used. He also learned the one command for lowering his own age, so is perpetually 35, though in actuality is about 170 years old. I expect this to be the age of most experienced ritual users, they would probably start training when they were around 25/30, have about 70 years to get a degree, and another 70 years as a practicing ritualist. See the backstory for more information.

He is well known for he knowledge and his ability to make explosions/fire, and thus people think he can do it naturally. Its nothing big, but he does have a lot of rumors surrounding him. I will edit and iron out the rumors and legends later, but he has been quite infamous.

He has the ability to produce flames in his hands and throw them, or light things like fuses on fire from a distance, and can control his pyrotechnics to a limited amount. He can also touch a handful of fine dirt, and transform it into a flammable compound.

Age: 170, looks 35

Skills: Physical alchemy, chemistry, pyrotechnics.

Backstory:

Mak was born to a ritual farmer who graduated with an accelerated 15 year "farming" degree. The family lived happily, using magic to grow crops and support themselves. Mac grew up seeing his father use magic to create compounds to help his plants and farmland and was fascinated by it. 

He realized when he was about 12 that without any explanation he could watch his father create the fertilizer and understood what it meant. He had no idea what the symbols were that moved dirt and such, but when his father was making compounds or stuff to help the plants he knew what the symbols were doing. He never tried anything though. He knew enough not to mess with the crystals to power the fuel. Those were expensive and really the families largest expense. They still made a lot of profit, but if he wrecked the crystals it would set them back a lot.

He lived with his parent's for a while, helping them run the farm, learning the basics of Ritual magic from his father, then at 18 he left the house to start going to the academy. He joined the DA in order to get a sponsor for his education. For ten years he learned the secrets behind alleys and bakeries and of the madness that was the alleyverse. They were willing to sponsor his education so that he would be able to use the local magic. They needed people who could do that.

He took a 10 year general magic course. A 20 year specialization in alchemy and then a 40 year advanced theory course to graduate as a wizard. He then got the equivalent of a PhD and developed the initial findings of pyrotechnics. He then left and started to make a living putting on firework shows, and helping people out with general stuff wherever he went. During his career he was working as a test subject for the DA, trying to figure out what was up with Natural magic.

Initially he used tricks to make special effects, slights of hand and the such to light fuses, tricks with flammable stuff to turn dirt into gun powder, but as people started to believe he had powers, he actually had those powers.

He worked in the field for 70 years, gathering information for the DA, and spreading baked goods and generally helping people to increase his reputation.

@Steel Inquisitive: Jürgen Jäger

Spoiler

Name: Jürgen Jäger (Yur-gen Jay-ger)

Physical Characteristics: Tall (6’1”). Dark, short hair. Blue eyes.

Age: 32

Investiture: Legend. Abilities include: He never misses a shot. He has increased speed when firing his bow, allowing him to shoot two arrows per second. He can sense his prey (This is more of a general feeling, only good enough to get him within a mile.) He has slightly increased strength and stamina.

Skills: Very skilled archer and hunter. He’s good at woodcraft. He knows how to make arrows.

Equipment: Long bow and quiver. Hunting knives. Camping gear.

Weakness: The influence of Natural magic is weighing on him heavily. He always feels the need to be hunting. Is often rash. He tends to be reckless. Social skills are lacking. He is poor at hand to hand combat.

Family: Has a mother, father and three younger siblings (Two brothers and a sister).

Home: Grew up in a remote village near Brats.

Backstory: Grew up with family and learned how to hunt with his father. His village was attacked when he was twelve by a monster. Zack killed the monster with his bow and his village honored him as a hero. As he grew up he would always be on the important hunting trips as his skill with the bow was already great (Natural magic had already started affecting him). He became well known in his village and the neighboring villages as the greatest hunter of all time. He killed many wild beasts and became a Legend when he was 22. Growing restless (there were no more beasts to be hunted close to his village) he decided to head for the academy to learn what he could of the Rituals.

Guild: Unaffiliated.  

Personality: Brash. Slightly arrogant. Kind hearted. Loyal. Passionate. Sincere.  

Fighting Style: Distance fighter. He can pick off a large group of enemies from a distance with ease.

@Turtle373: Chadwick, The Wolf

Spoiler

Name: Chadwick, most stories about him refer to him as The Wolf

Species: Alaskan Malamute

Physical Characteristics: age 23, very large, weighs 350 pounds, his fur is a very deep black color, piercing grey eyes

Investure: Natural magic, has reached Apex level, skin is extremely tough, is very strong and fast, like pewter strength times 1.5. During combat radiates a weak aura of fear and a feeling of inevitable defeat.

Personality: loves to fight, he will never back down from a fight, but he will not go looking for a fight, and will only retreat if he is absolutely certain he will lose, he believes that he cannot lose a fight. If he sees a fight there is a very good chance he will join. He is curious and tries to learn and understand things to become stronger.

Skills: is a very good fighter

Weakness: He is a dog and doesn't understand a lot of human culture, uses fighting to get past his problems, has no idea how natural, innate or ritual magic work.

Backstory: Chadwick started out as a normal dog, the only differences were his very dark, almost black coat, his slightly above average size, and his slightly above average intelligence. When the dog fighters picked him up they immediately started spreading stories of this massive dog with a black coat, in order to try to build hype. During his first few fights Chadwick was put up against weak opponents to try to overplay his skills, and he demolished all of them. Stories about "The Wolf" started to spread like wildfire, according to the stories he was twice the size of other dogs, was pure black, and could not be beat, and slowly Chadwick became stronger, bigger, his coat got blacker, and he got better and better at fighting. The dog fighters started fighting him against tougher and tougher opponents, even some actual wolves, and he kept winning, and this only served to increase the amount and wildness of the stories about him. Eventually the dog fighters put him up against a tiger, and even a tiger stood no chance to him at this point. His reputation went crazy after that, and the dog fighters and most other people started to get really afraid of him (this is what created the aura thing) and Chadwick only grew stronger and smarter. He began to realize that he didn't need to be owned by anyone, and he knew he was stronger than his masters, so he attacked them and killed them and escaped. When this happened people became very afraid of him and his reputation, and therefore abilities, grew. He became intelligent enough to realize that there is a power in knowledge, and that he wouldn't be able to get it by killing everyone, so he named himself Chadwick and went out to try to became stronger, either through knowledge or combat.

@ZincAboutIt: Aldred, The Itinerant

Spoiler

Name: Aldred, beginning to be known as “The Itinerant”

Magic: Natural; Hero level

Age: 23

Skills: Extreme persuasion/ability to negotiate with other Natural magic entities and create binding covenants; “deal-making”. He has begun to be able to sense the presence of other Natural magic, not like an Innate, more like kind of a pulsing feeling, like a loud hum, which gets stronger as he moves closer to the source. He cannot see leylines or other yin-Innate skills.

Weaknesses/Conflicts: He is beginning to feel compelled to go to certain places, whether or not he wants to go there, though he can still resist for now. He is starting to lose some of his memories, but still retains the majority of his psyche, making these losses deeply disturbing to him. He is not a very skilled fighter, his battles are fought with words. As he becomes more and more enhanced via Natural magic, he is beginning to have a crisis of faith, with his pride battling against his teachings.

Backstory: Aldred joined the Orthodoxy when he was 13, and shortly after his first sanctioned mission it became clear that even without the favor of Vania (goddess of logic and education) he was a gifted negotiator with a silver tongue. By 15, he was already taking the lead on missions. However, Aldred was also fascinated by Natural magic, and he saw how often the communities would lament the need to abandon belief in a local spirit or creature due to some benefit of their presence (despite the accompanying negative aspects). Aldred soon became obsessed with the idea of the “perfect contract,” something that could leave both the creature and the mortal community satisfied. The other Sayers, especially the older ones, frowned upon these ideas. They considered belief in the “lesser constructs” to be foolish, even in situations where there were no negative aspects to the relationship. Aldred disagreed.

One day, when a sanctioned mission took a very bad turn, the Sayers encouraged a small valley community to evacuate until further aid had arrived. But, everyone knew that the villagers would not make it long in the wilderness away from their farmsteads and settlements. Aldred did not agree with the abandonment of the settlement, and he snuck off from the group and convinced the village elders to let him try and negotiate with the spirit. He did so, brokering a charter between the spirit and the village.

Aldred was punished for disobeying his superiors, but the efficacy of Aldred’s contract could not be denied. The Sayers enjoyed a very productive season in the surrounding area after word spread of their earlier success. The mission eventually finished, and the Sayers were called back to their home city for a rest from duty. However, Aldred did not want to stay put. He took up solo missions, travelling to increasingly far-flung places, and reported nothing but success. His relationship with the Orthodoxy is strained to breaking, but he is confident in himself and his solutions and won’t back down on his methods.

Aldred is now about 23. He remains clever, charismatic, and smooth-talking, always looking to make the perfect deal, find every loophole, and get as much as he can for whoever calls on him. He is seeking to make a true name for himself, but as Natural magic begins to truly settle around him he wonders whether or not it’s worth the consequences that are beginning to manifest.

@kenod: Lilia Blumenkind

Spoiler

Name: Lilia Blumenkind

Age: ~58 (physical age looks like it's between 14 and 20)

Gender: Female

Appearance: 5'4'' tall with purple eyes and dark green hair, she has a somewhat inhuman appearance, which makes estimating her age somewhat difficult. A large white lily grows out the side of her head, and small vines grow in her hair, the vines having small flowers growing from them. Her skin shows hints of green as well, in places having a texture similar to that of leaves, or vines. She has thicker vines growing out of her wrists as well, which normally wrap around her arms and her upper body, but she can use them as tentacles too.
She wears trousers and a shirt, both of which seem to be made from a green, plant-like material which seems surprisingly sturdy. She also wears sturdy leather boots.

Magic: She is a skilled Fleshcrafter, and has used her magic to inscribe a small set of spells on her own body, some of which use her vines for targeting things (no ranged spells). The small amount of magic that she knows that isn't Fleshcrafting is extremely primitive though, relying on extremely outdated theories and being highly simplistic and wasteful. She also has Innate magic, though this is somewhat weak, as she can generally only use it to view Spirits and Natural magic, not Ritual magic. I might change the Innate part when we finally nail that down. Otherwise, just chalk any weirdness there up to her being part spirit.

Spells (Asterisk denotes inscribed spell):

• Physical enhancement*: This spell alters her body, improving her metabolism, muscles and bones to allow for increased strength, speed, stamina and agility, but can't be active for longer periods of time, as the changes to her metabolism would become dangerous otherwise. This spell consists of two parts, one to activate it, and one to deactivate it, since the spell doesn't need to be continuously running for it's effect to manifest itself.
• Hardening*: Temporarily hardens parts of her vines, making it impossible for Lilia to bend and move those parts, but making them more effective as weapons and defenses.
• Decomposition*: starts decomposing all organic matter that her vines touch. Since it only decomposes what is directly touched, this doesn't instantly kill targets, instead only giving surface injuries. If she has her vines wrapped around something she can use that to keep pressing her vines against it though, destroying it.
• Fleshcrafting: A skilled Fleshcrafter, she's capable of healing people, as well as interfering with living beings in other ways. She can also use this to manipulate plants as well. The complexity of these spells means that this generally can't be done on the fly though.
• Heating spell: A very basic spell that can be used to heat up an area, or be focused in a smaller area to cook things. Does not create fire.
• Water condensation: A basic spell that takes water vapor in the atmosphere and condenses it, creating a source of drinkable water.

Skills: Decent woodland survival skills, especially when it comes to hiding in the woods. Knowledgeable of biology. More intelligent than her personality might sometimes indicate. Good tracker, and a fairly good hand-to-hand combatant (though only when using her vines and magic). Has fairly good instincts (except for social situations).

Personality: Her personality is somewhat strange, acting child-like at times, while surprisingly mature and wise at other times. Doesn't really understand human morality that well, and her thought patterns are somewhat alien to humans, being more similar to that of a spirit. Her rather bizarre perspective also means that she generally shouldn't be asked for healing, since she's just as likely to heal a person as to turn them into some bizarre creature. Tends to be rather soft-spoken.

Weaknesses: Almost all of her spells take time to set up, and she doesn't have any ranged spells. Her non-Fleshcrafting spells are also extremely simplistic, and are more utility spells, not combat spells. Her appearance and personality mean that a lot of people, especially the superstitious ones, are somewhat distrustful of her. Her attitude towards and usages of Fleshcrafting can also put her at odds with other mages.

Family: Her mother lives back in her village. Her father disappeared and reappeared at irregular intervals, and is believed to be a spirit.

History: Born in the Flower Spirit's village, she was somewhat unusual because of the white lily growing out of her head when she was born. Named after this lily she was raised normally, living in the village, wandering through the woods and modifying herself. When she got older she started getting interested in the outside world, of which their village knew almost nothing, except for the few pieces of news they got from the few merchants and locals that visited them. At one point, she decided to set out into the human world, taking a number of Investure crystals with her, and went traveling, exploring the different lands.

Themesong: Adrian von Ziegler, A Celtic Lore. Faun, Von den Elben.

@Sorana: Amara

Spoiler

Name: Amara

Age: 25

Investiture: innate magic (whatever gets decided, preferably something that would help with healing, or with potions)

Skills: healing, healing potions, knowledge about plants

Physical: red-blonde hair, green eyes, stout, small, hands usually reddish coloured

Weaknesses: scared of heights, stubborn, holds firmly to her convictions

Character: will help everybody regardless of their past, quiet, firm

Family: 5 siblings (Ashara, Vohannes, Neil, Robert, Sophia), only her mother is still alive

Homecountry: Kuria, a smaller town somewhere

Backstory: Amara is from a small village and learned her skills from the village's healer. She spent years observing and helping the old woman and is happy that she got this chance. Her father is a tailor and her brothers will follow into his footsteps. When it was neccessary she helped sewing, but most of the time she was in the woods, collecting plants or learning how to deal with the small and large injuries and illnesses of daily life. Amara never planned to leave her home, instead she looked forward to a quiet life with a husband. Her knowledge would secure her a place in the village's community as well as the repect of those living there. One day she caught the eye of a travelling rich man and he decided to keep her. Friends warned Amara and she escaped. Originally she wanted to return to her village, but then she met some ill bandits and stayed with them, until they were feeling well again. During that time she realized, that there are many people who need her skills more than those back in the village and therefore set out to travel the world. She just started her journey and looks forward to see many different places and meet new people. She dreams of one day having her own business, as the live of a journeyman is hard and she barely earns enough to pay for her expenses. If she ever had enough money, she would buy herself a place to earn the title of a medic and learn this craft as well, as medics are supposed to have more knowledge. One day she would like to open a clinic and offer medical treatment to the poor ones.

So currently the party includes a Wizard, a Hunter, a Hound (the hunter's companion?), a Cleric(?), an Elf/Druid (sort of), and a Healer.

Edited March 16, 2019 by kenod

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Just now, kenod said:

So I decided to go through the thread and compile a basic list myself:

@MacThorstenson: Mak

  Reveal hidden contents

Name: Mak

Magic: EVERYTHING! No seriously.

He is an innate magic user, that was able to see the symbols behind physical alchemy, transmutation. He quickly learned how to bake delicious baked goods via his powers and create explosions and used that as a specialization throughout his time in the academy. He did graduate however after the 70 year program which taught him the basics in a variety of areas, and the theory.

Through study he tried and succeeded at figuring out a lot about heat and how that needs to be used. He also learned the one command for lowering his own age, so is perpetually 35, though in actuality is about 170 years old. I expect this to be the age of most experienced ritual users, they would probably start training when they were around 25/30, have about 70 years to get a degree, and another 70 years as a practicing ritualist. See the backstory for more information.

He is well known for he knowledge and his ability to make explosions/fire, and thus people think he can do it naturally. Its nothing big, but he does have a lot of rumors surrounding him. I will edit and iron out the rumors and legends later, but he has been quite infamous.

He has the ability to produce flames in his hands and throw them, or light things like fuses on fire from a distance, and can control his pyrotechnics to a limited amount. He can also touch a handful of fine dirt, and transform it into a flammable compound.

Age: 170, looks 35

Skills: Physical alchemy, chemistry, pyrotechnics.

Backstory:

Mak was born to a ritual farmer who graduated with an accelerated 15 year "farming" degree. The family lived happily, using magic to grow crops and support themselves. Mac grew up seeing his father use magic to create compounds to help his plants and farmland and was fascinated by it. 

He realized when he was about 12 that without any explanation he could watch his father create the fertilizer and understood what it meant. He had no idea what the symbols were that moved dirt and such, but when his father was making compounds or stuff to help the plants he knew what the symbols were doing. He never tried anything though. He knew enough not to mess with the crystals to power the fuel. Those were expensive and really the families largest expense. They still made a lot of profit, but if he wrecked the crystals it would set them back a lot.

He lived with his parent's for a while, helping them run the farm, learning the basics of Ritual magic from his father, then at 18 he left the house to start going to the academy. He joined the DA in order to get a sponsor for his education. For ten years he learned the secrets behind alleys and bakeries and of the madness that was the alleyverse. They were willing to sponsor his education so that he would be able to use the local magic. They needed people who could do that.

He took a 10 year general magic course. A 20 year specialization in alchemy and then a 40 year advanced theory course to graduate as a wizard. He then got the equivalent of a PhD and developed the initial findings of pyrotechnics. He then left and started to make a living putting on firework shows, and helping people out with general stuff wherever he went. During his career he was working as a test subject for the DA, trying to figure out what was up with Natural magic.

Initially he used tricks to make special effects, slights of hand and the such to light fuses, tricks with flammable stuff to turn dirt into gun powder, but as people started to believe he had powers, he actually had those powers.

He worked in the field for 70 years, gathering information for the DA, and spreading baked goods and generally helping people to increase his reputation.

@Steel Inquisitive: Zack Night

  Reveal hidden contents

Name: Zack Night. 

Physical Characteristics: Tall (6’1”). Dark, short hair. Blue eyes.

Age: 32

Investiture: Legend. Abilities include: He never misses a shot. He has increased speed when firing his bow, allowing him to shoot two arrows per second. He can sense his prey (This is more of a general feeling, only good enough to get him within a mile.) He has slightly increased strength.

Skills: Very skilled archer and hunter. He’s good at woodcraft. He knows how to make arrows.

Equipment: Long bow and quiver. Hunting knives. Camping gear.

Weakness: The influence of Natural magic is weighing on him heavily. He always feels the need to be hunting. Is often rash. He tends to be reckless. Social skills are lacking. He is poor at hand to hand combat.

Family: Has a mother, father and three younger siblings (Two brothers and a sister).

Home: Grew up in a remote village. (More info once map is complete)

Backstory: Grew up with family and learned how to hunt with his father. His village was attacked when he was twelve by a monster. Zack killed the monster with his bow and his village honored him as a hero. As he grew up he would always be on the important hunting trips as his skill with the bow was already great (Natural magic had already started affecting him). He became well known in his village and the neighboring villages as the greatest hunter of all time. He killed many wild beasts and became a Legend when he was 22. Growing restless (there were no more beasts to be hunted close to his village) he decided to head for the academy to learn what he could of the Rituals.

Guild: Unaffiliated.  

Personality: Brash. Slightly arrogant. Kind hearted. Loyal. Passionate. Sincere.  

Fighting Style: Distance fighter. He can pick off a large group of enemies from a distance with ease.

@Turtle373: Chadwick, The Wolf

  Reveal hidden contents

Name: Chadwick, most stories about him refer to him as The Wolf

Species: Alaskan Malamute

Physical Characteristics: age 23, very large, weighs 350 pounds, his fur is a very deep black color, piercing grey eyes

Investure: Natural magic, has reached Apex level, skin is extremely tough, is very strong and fast, like pewter strength times 1.5. During combat radiates a weak aura of fear and a feeling of inevitable defeat.

Personality: loves to fight, he will never back down from a fight, but he will not go looking for a fight, and will only retreat if he is absolutely certain he will lose, he believes that he cannot lose a fight. If he sees a fight there is a very good chance he will join. He is curious and tries to learn and understand things to become stronger.

Skills: is a very good fighter

Weakness: He is a dog and doesn't understand a lot of human culture, uses fighting to get past his problems, has no idea how natural, innate or ritual magic work.

Backstory: Chadwick started out as a normal dog, the only differences were his very dark, almost black coat, his slightly above average size, and his slightly above average intelligence. When the dog fighters picked him up they immediately started spreading stories of this massive dog with a black coat, in order to try to build hype. During his first few fights Chadwick was put up against weak opponents to try to overplay his skills, and he demolished all of them. Stories about "The Wolf" started to spread like wildfire, according to the stories he was twice the size of other dogs, was pure black, and could not be beat, and slowly Chadwick became stronger, bigger, his coat got blacker, and he got better and better at fighting. The dog fighters started fighting him against tougher and tougher opponents, even some actual wolves, and he kept winning, and this only served to increase the amount and wildness of the stories about him. Eventually the dog fighters put him up against a tiger, and even a tiger stood no chance to him at this point. His reputation went crazy after that, and the dog fighters and most other people started to get really afraid of him (this is what created the aura thing) and Chadwick only grew stronger and smarter. He began to realize that he didn't need to be owned by anyone, and he knew he was stronger than his masters, so he attacked them and killed them and escaped. When this happened people became very afraid of him and his reputation, and therefore abilities, grew. He became intelligent enough to realize that there is a power in knowledge, and that he wouldn't be able to get it by killing everyone, so he named himself Chadwick and went out to try to became stronger, either through knowledge or combat.

@ZincAboutIt: Kazran, The Itinerant

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Name: Kazran, known as “The Itinerant”

Magic: Natural; Hero/Champion level

Age: ~30

Skills: Extreme persuasion/ability to negotiate with other Natural magic entities and create binding covenants; “deal-making”

Weaknesses/Conflicts: He is widely known, and is therefore frequently called (compelled) from one place to another. The legends and rumors surrounding him are sometimes disparate and cause him to change slightly depending on where he goes. He is starting to lose some of his own agency and memories, but still retains the majority of his psyche, making these losses deeply disturbing to him. The faith surrounding him also sometimes conflicts with his personal goals/desires. He is not a very skilled fighter, his battles are fought with words.

Backstory: Kazran joined the Orthodoxy when he was 13, and shortly after his first sanctioned mission it became clear that even without the favor of Vanya (goddess of logic and education) he was a gifted negotiator with a silver tongue. By 15, he was already taking the lead on missions, his charisma convincing plenty to abandon belief in the harmful beings near their communities. However, Kazran was also fascinated by Natural magic, and he saw how often the communities would lament the need to abandon belief in a local spirit or creature due to some benefit of their presence (despite the accompanying negative aspects). Kazran soon became obsessed with the idea of the “perfect contract,” something that could leave both the creature and the mortal community satisfied. The other Sayers, especially the older ones, frowned upon these ideas. They considered belief in the “lesser constructs” to be foolish, even in situations where there were no negative aspects to the relationship. Kazran disagreed.

One day, when a sanctioned mission took a very bad turn, the Sayers encouraged a small valley community to evacuate until further aid had arrived. But, everyone knew that the villagers would not make it long in the wilderness away from their farmsteads and settlements. The spirit plaguing them lived in a blessed spring that fed the streams and creeks of the valley, causing the crops to grow larger and more bountifully than they should have in such poor soil. After a rash of drownings, the community began to believe that the spirit of the spring enjoyed drowning people, in addition to providing magical nourishment to the water. The spirit became so vicious that people were afraid to drink water or cross even the smallest spring. Kazran did not agree with the abandonment of the settlement, and he sneaked off from the group and convinced the village elders to let him try and negotiate with the spirit. He did so, brokering a charter between the spirit and the village.

Kazran was punished for disobeying his superiors, but the efficacy of Kazran’s contract could not be denied. The Sayers enjoyed a very productive season in the surrounding area after word spread of their earlier success. Soon, however, it became apparent that Kazran, and not the Orthodoxy, was the source of these rumors and requests. Everyone wanted help from the silver-tongued youth.

The mission eventually finished, and the Sayers were called back to their home city for a rest from duty. However, Kazran did not want to stay put. He took up solo missions, travelling to increasingly far-flung places, and reported nothing but success. He became known as “the Itinerant,” wandering wherever he was called. Eventually, the Orthodoxy had to face the facts: people were beginning to have faith in Kazran himself, instead of in Vanya’s power through him as a disciple. He was publicly de-frocked in the hopes of reducing his credibility, but the affair only heightened Kazran’s legend. A small section of the Orthodoxy broke off in support of Kazran, most of them being his original cohort from when they were acolytes. Even now that he no longer had the favor of Vanya, his powers of deal-forging only continued to grow. He continued to travel, and his legend spread.

Kazran himself is now about 30, and depending on where he goes, his appearance and abilities shift slightly. He remains clever, charismatic, and smooth-talking, always looking to make the perfect deal, find every loophole, and get as much as he can for whoever calls on him. However, he is starting to lose his early memories, and the edges of his humanity are beginning to blur. After a lifetime of negotiation, Kazran deeply fears the day when he will lose the majority of his own bargaining power. He dreads existing only to be invoked, the magic behind someone else’s clever tongue, instead of the one speaking.

@kenod: Lilia Blumenkind

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Name: Lilia Blumenkind

Age: ~58 (physical age looks like it's between 14 and 20)

Gender: Female

Appearance: 5'4'' tall with purple eyes and dark green hair, she has a somewhat inhuman appearance, which makes estimating her age somewhat difficult. A large white lily grows out the side of her head, and small vines grow in her hair, the vines having small flowers growing from them. Her skin shows hints of green as well, in places having a texture similar to that of leaves, or vines. She has thicker vines growing out of her wrists as well, which normally wrap around her arms and her upper body, but she can use them as tentacles too.
She wears trousers and a shirt, both of which seem to be made from a green, plant-like material which seems surprisingly sturdy. She also wears sturdy leather boots.

Magic: She is a skilled Fleshcrafter, and has used her magic to inscribe a small set of spells on her own body, some of which use her vines for targeting things (no ranged spells). The small amount of magic that she knows that isn't Fleshcrafting is extremely primitive though, relying on extremely outdated theories and being highly simplistic and wasteful. She also has Innate magic, though this is somewhat weak, as she can generally only use it to view Spirits and Natural magic, not Ritual magic. I might change the Innate part when we finally nail that down. Otherwise, just chalk any weirdness there up to her being part spirit.

Spells (Asterisk denotes inscribed spell):

• Physical enhancement*: This spell alters her body, improving her metabolism, muscles and bones to allow for increased strength, speed, stamina and agility, but can't be active for longer periods of time, as the changes to her metabolism would become dangerous otherwise. This spell consists of two parts, one to activate it, and one to deactivate it, since the spell doesn't need to be continuously running for it's effect to manifest itself.
• Hardening*: Temporarily hardens parts of her vines, making it impossible for Lilia to bend and move those parts, but making them more effective as weapons and defenses.
• Decomposition*: starts decomposing all organic matter that her vines touch. Since it only decomposes what is directly touched, this doesn't instantly kill targets, instead only giving surface injuries. If she has her vines wrapped around something she can use that to keep pressing her vines against it though, destroying it.
• Fleshcrafting: A skilled Fleshcrafter, she's capable of healing people, as well as interfering with living beings in other ways. She can also use this to manipulate plants as well. The complexity of these spells means that this generally can't be done on the fly though.
• Heating spell: A very basic spell that can be used to heat up an area, or be focused in a smaller area to cook things. Does not create fire.
• Water condensation: A basic spell that takes water vapor in the atmosphere and condenses it, creating a source of drinkable water.

Skills: Decent woodland survival skills, especially when it comes to hiding in the woods. Knowledgeable of biology. More intelligent than her personality might sometimes indicate. Good tracker, and a fairly good hand-to-hand combatant (though only when using her vines and magic). Has fairly good instincts (except for social situations).

Personality: Her personality is somewhat strange, acting child-like at times, while surprisingly mature and wise at other times. Doesn't really understand human morality that well, and her thought patterns are somewhat alien to humans, being more similar to that of a spirit. Her rather bizarre perspective also means that she generally shouldn't be asked for healing, since she's just as likely to heal a person as to turn them into some bizarre creature. Tends to be rather soft-spoken.

Weaknesses: Almost all of her spells take time to set up, and she doesn't have any ranged spells. Her non-Fleshcrafting spells are also extremely simplistic, and are more utility spells, not combat spells. Her appearance and personality mean that a lot of people, especially the superstitious ones, are somewhat distrustful of her. Her attitude towards and usages of Fleshcrafting can also put her at odds with other mages.

Family: Her mother lives back in her village. Her father disappeared and reappeared at irregular intervals, and is believed to be a spirit.

History: Born in the Flower Spirit's village, she was somewhat unusual because of the white lily growing out of her head when she was born. Named after this lily she was raised normally, living in the village, wandering through the woods and modifying herself. When she got older she started getting interested in the outside world, of which their village knew almost nothing, except for the few pieces of news they got from the few merchants and locals that visited them. At one point, she decided to set out into the human world, taking a number of Investure crystals with her, and went traveling, exploring the different lands.

Themesong: Adrian von Ziegler, A Celtic Lore. Faun, Von den Elben.

So currently the party includes a Wizard, a Hunter, a Hound (the hunter's companion?), a Cleric(?), and an Elf/Druid (sort of).

Wow this is great, thanks! Yeah I’d say “cleric” isn’t quite right, but it’s close enough. He’s in the process of being deified. I was considering replacing him with an Innate woman who can read ley lines, since Kazran is almost incapable of moving around on his own free will anymore. Mehh. I’ll give this a think and decide by tonight.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

42 minutes ago, kenod said:

Alright. Do you have any suggestions for how the mages could figure into local politics?

I feel like at most it would be like a powerful union. At its core magic is a career. You can go to different levels, and use expertise from magic in other careers, but at its core its a career, so any political influence it would have would be based off of that.

EDIT: I will probably change Mak a lot. I'm going to change him into an enchanter with a specialization in making enchanted cookies.

In addition I'm going to make an NPC that is the Local DA leader.

Edited March 14, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[kenod]

1 minute ago, MacThorstenson said:

I feel like at most it would be like a powerful union. At its core magic is a career. You can go to different levels, and use expertise from magic in other careers, but at its core its a career, so any political influence it would have would be based off of that.

Alright. So I'm guessing that going by that, they'd probably have a representative that talks to the government, possibly with a symbolic seat on the governing council, but don't wield much direct influence. So I'm guessing that the representative would normally be from the main academy, since that is where most of the more powerful mages will be concentrated, and since every mage will have studied there they'll also all be connected to it, making communication easier, and making it more logical for them to take a leading role.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Just now, kenod said:

Alright. So I'm guessing that going by that, they'd probably have a representative that talks to the government, possibly with a symbolic seat on the governing council, but don't wield much direct influence. So I'm guessing that the representative would normally be from the main academy, since that is where most of the more powerful mages will be concentrated, and since every mage will have studied there they'll also all be connected to it, making communication easier, and making it more logical for them to take a leading role.

Sounds good.

[kenod]

2 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Sounds good.

Alright. How much influence would the religions have? Would they mostly have informal influence, by advising the counselors, or do they have an actual seat in the council, and if so, which religions have one?

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Just now, kenod said:

Alright. How much influence would the religions have? Would they mostly have informal influence, by advising the counselors, or do they have an actual seat in the council, and if so, which religions have one?

In this inherently and (at times) unpredictably polytheistic society, I think a rather informal influence is best. Otherwise, the world would possibly be in a constant state of holy war. I favor the former option, with gods advising counselors. 

[MacThorstenson he/him]

1 minute ago, ZincAboutIt said:

In this inherently and (at times) unpredictably polytheistic society, I think a rather informal influence is best. Otherwise, the world would possibly be in a constant state of holy war. I favor the former option, with gods advising counselors. 

I completely agree and would add that considering that the gods are actually real, if they wanted too they could strike someone down in an heartbeat, so the fact that they haven't set up a theocracy says enough about their desire to rule.

[kenod]

1 minute ago, MacThorstenson said:

I completely agree and would add that considering that the gods are actually real, if they wanted too they could strike someone down in an heartbeat, so the fact that they haven't set up a theocracy says enough about their desire to rule.

It's probably good to keep in mind that they'd be rather restrained in what they can actually do, since, the other gods could probably block them from taking certain actions, and they are forced to act according to certain believes. There's also the fact that actions not considered part of their sphere of responsibilities might have... unfortunate effects on them. For example, the personification of death might not really like a minor god of grain trying to resurrect the dead, or make all their followers completely immortal.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

2 hours ago, kenod said:

It's probably good to keep in mind that they'd be rather restrained in what they can actually do, since, the other gods could probably block them from taking certain actions, and they are forced to act according to certain believes. There's also the fact that actions not considered part of their sphere of responsibilities might have... unfortunate effects on them. For example, the personification of death might not really like a minor god of grain trying to resurrect the dead, or make all their followers completely immortal.

Very true.

I agree with @Steel Inquisitive that I think that we have enough things put in place to start actually RPing. At the very least we should start coming up with a plot and finalizing characters.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

If I have a plot idea should I just lay it out here? 

[Steel Inquisitive he/him]

1 minute ago, ZincAboutIt said:

If I have a plot idea should I just lay it out here? 

I would think so.... Keep any plot twists to yourself but the general points should be alright.

I, unfortunately, need to be in bed. I love how much work everyone is putting into this! I'll be back on sometime tomorrow afternoon..... Don't do anything too exciting without me!!!!!!!

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Alright, here's an idea:

• One of Kuria’s/the area’s (I propose the city of Katin or maybe Streshin on the map) richest crystal mines has begun to manifest some dangerous Natural magic properties. After a full team of miners went missing deep inside the mine with no trace, the workers began to create their own reasons for the disappearance. Now, that thing has begun to manifest, and miners continue to disappear, always leaving no trace. No one can figure out what is actually down there - the miners simply believe that the cause of the disappearance is “the Dark.”
• The people who run the mine are obviously very concerned. Crystal harvesting has gotten more difficult, with some miners going missing or quitting due to unease.
• The city and area surrounding the mine has become a hotbed of activity (this could be a good reason for everyone to get together in roughly the same place)
• I chose a crystal problem because it is crucial to the world, and it’s something that someone would care about, or at least be curious about, no matter their station
• The Natural magic aspect keeps things rather mysterious

Please feel free to offer feedback on this idea! It’s just a very rough sketch, but we could take it many ways if we wanted to

[kenod]

4 hours ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Alright, here's an idea:

• One of Kuria’s/the area’s (I propose the city of Katin or maybe Streshin on the map) richest crystal mines has begun to manifest some dangerous Natural magic properties. After a full team of miners went missing deep inside the mine with no trace, the workers began to create their own reasons for the disappearance. Now, that thing has begun to manifest, and miners continue to disappear, always leaving no trace. No one can figure out what is actually down there - the miners simply believe that the cause of the disappearance is “the Dark.”
• The people who run the mine are obviously very concerned. Crystal harvesting has gotten more difficult, with some miners going missing or quitting due to unease.
• The city and area surrounding the mine has become a hotbed of activity (this could be a good reason for everyone to get together in roughly the same place)
• I chose a crystal problem because it is crucial to the world, and it’s something that someone would care about, or at least be curious about, no matter their station
• The Natural magic aspect keeps things rather mysterious

Please feel free to offer feedback on this idea! It’s just a very rough sketch, but we could take it many ways if we wanted to

Seems interesting, and might also have the potential to grow into a larger plot (or at least get the gang together). My only question is why our characters would be allowed to help. For some it would be fairly simple, since Sayers would be logical to call, and a Mage from the Academy helping would make sense as well, but having strangers help out with this would seem rather weird, since these mines sound like the type of thing that would be a fairly sensitive matter, that you don't want strangers to interfere in, let alone some of our weirder characters.

[+Sorana she/her]

Alright so here's my character. I'm unsure about the whole magic part, so if you think something fits better just tell me, or if you have a good idea. The only thing I don't want to use is the ritual magic, as I picture her as intuitive and not structured.

Spoiler

Name: Amara

Age: 25

Investiture: innate magic (whatever gets decided, preferably something that would help with healing, or with potions)

Skills: healing, healing potions, knowledge about plants

Physical: red-blonde hair, green eyes, stout, small, hands usually reddish coloured

Weaknesses: scared of heights, stubborn, holds firmly to her convictions

Character: will help everybody regardless of their past, quiet, firm

Family: 5 siblings (Ashara, Vohannes, Neil, Robert, Sophia), only her mother is still alive

Homecountry: Kuria, a smaller town somewhere

Backstory: Amara is from a small village and learned her skills from the village's healer. She spent years observing and helping the old woman and is happy that she got this chance. Her father is a tailor and her brothers will follow into his footsteps. When it was neccessary she helped sewing, but most of the time she was in the woods, collecting plants or learning how to deal with the small and large injuries and illnesses of daily life. Amara never planned to leave her home, instead she looked forward to a quiet life with a husband. Her knowledge would secure her a place in the village's community as well as the repect of those living there. One day she caught the eye of a travelling rich man and he decided to keep her. Friends warned Amara and she escaped. Originally she wanted to return to her village, but then she met some ill bandits and stayed with them, until they were feeling well again. During that time she realized, that there are many people who need her skills more than those back in the village and therefore set out to travel the world. She just started her journey and looks forward to see many different places and meet new people. She dreams of one day having her own business, as the live of a journeyman is hard and she barely earns enough to pay for her expenses. If she ever had enough money, she would buy herself a place to earn the title of a medic and learn this craft as well, as medics are supposed to have more knowledge. One day she would like to open a clinic and offer medical treatment to the poor ones.